Mark 10:46-52
Mark 10:46-52
This is the last of the healing miracles recorded by Mark. It’s also the last narrative of Mark 10 which means after this, Jesus is heading into Jerusalem where He will be tried, crucified, buried and raised.
Beyond all of that, this story carries special significance because in it we see a man who is the archetype of a true disciple.
Chapter 10 has been all about true discipleship. Jesus has been calling His disciples, and by extension, you and I, to be radically commitment to Him in various fundamental areas of life:
Marriage
Children
Possessions
Last week we talked about how He’s calling us to be humble servants, rather than hungry for status.
And all through the chapter we’ve seen both negative and positive examples of each of these things.
We’ve seen the Pharisees try to present a man-centered (rather than a God-centered) position on marriage and divorce.
Then we’ve seen Jesus respond by reestablishing God’s heart for marriage.
We’ve seen the disciples attempt to prevent children from coming to Jesus,
then we’ve seen Jesus take the children in his arms and say, in effect, these children are the ones who are getting it right by coming to me humbly and without pretense.
We’ve seen that young, prominent, self-made man come to Jesus wanting to earn his way into heaven.
Then we saw Jesus’ response that made his disciples’ jaws drop when He told the man to go and sell everything and follow Jesus. He peered into this man’s heart and saw what was holding this man’s heart captive, which happened to be his wealth. And when it came down to it, this man wasn’t willing to take Jesus over his wealth. He chose temporary earthly treasure over eternal treasure.
On the topic of humility and servitude, we saw James and John come up to Jesus and demand status in His kingdom.
To which Jesus responds, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant.”
In a word, true discipleship is about Desperation.
Mark 10:46–52 (ESV):
46 And they came to Jericho.
Remember, Jesus is enroute to Jerusalem where He will eventually be crucified. He knows this; He’s predicted it three times so far (chapters 8, 9 and 10).
Jericho is about 17 miles northeast of Jerusalem.
By noting the location, Mark wants us to understand that they’re getting close––the time for Jesus’ crucifixion is drawing near.
And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
About Bartimaeus:
First, it’s a little unusual that Mark would give us this man’s name. In similar previous encounters, names are not given. This immediately gives this story a feeling of intimacy.
Never forget that Jesus cares about the individual, not just the crowd.
The Bible makes it clear that each individual person is deeply known by God, even down to the number of hairs on our head.
Next, notice the description of this man. He is both blind, and a beggar. Remember: Physical blindness in the gospel of Mark has been used to represent spiritual blindness.
Back in chapter 8, for example, we saw Jesus heal another blind man only partially at first, before finishing the job. And we noted that that was Jesus’ clever way of pointing out the partial spiritual sight of His own disciples in that moment.
It says Bartimaeus is a beggar. We’re familiar enough with beggars today. We know that a beggar, by definition, is at the total mercy of others. They only get what others are willing to graciously give. That’s this man. He can do nothing to help himself other than beg.
Finally, notice that Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside as Jesus approaches. Roads were for people who were going somewhere… Bartimaeus wasn’t going anywhere. He was marginalized by society. While everyone else was on their way, he was simply a bystander.
But, as it turns out, Bartimaeus didn’t need to go anywhere on his own. Because God was about to come to him.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Notice two things:
Bartimaeus sees Jesus for who He really is.
“What Bartimaeus lacks in eyesight he makes up for in insight” -Edwards
That title Jesus of Nazareth, probably better translated, “Jesus the Nazarene” is probably Messianic.
Similarly, that title “Son of David” is absolutely Messianic.
Ever since 2 Samuel 7:11-12, the Israelites were awaiting an offspring of David who would be established on the throne and rule forever.
This Messiah would bring healing and wholeness. This Messiah would bring deliverance.
The point is: Bartimaeus rightly identifies Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, and he cries out to Him. In this way, he does what many of the religious elite are not prepared to do. He does what the Rich Young Ruler from a couple weeks ago certainly was not prepared to do.
And in this moment, Bartimaeus becomes the archetype of a true disciple: Someone who rightly identifies Jesus as the Savior, and cries out to Him in desperation.
48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
This man’s entire life hinges on Jesus’ response to those words, “have mercy on me”.
So does ours. Whether we realize it or not, our lives are hanging by a thread held by Jesus.
“Jesus upholds the universe by the word of His power”, Hebrews tells us.
“From Him and through Him and to Him are all things”, Romans tells us.
We tend to feel this reality when our own health or the health of someone close to us fails. Just in the past few weeks we’ve lost Don Brewster, we’ve prayed for the Hamilton’s 3 year old son Andrew who ended up passing, we’ve prayed for Jim who had emergency open heart surgery, we’ve continued to pray for little Sienna Gates who is in the hospital with an infection. It’s in times like these when we realize what has always been true: that our lives are completely out of our control.
This is also true on a spiritual level. Unless Jesus has mercy on us, we are doomed. Our sins have rendered us guilty before God, and deserving of eternal punishment.
And yet, God tells us in His word that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13)
49 And Jesus stopped
Amazing, isn’t it? The desperate plea of a single individual is enough to make the Creator of the universe, on His way to fulfill the most important mission of all time, stop in His tracks.
and said, “Call him.”
And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”
Iisn’t this the role we play when we evangelize?
He is calling them. We are simply the messengers.
2 Corinthians 5:20 says we are “ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.”
Could you imagine the joy and anticipation that would have surged in this man when he heard those words? “Jesus is calling you!”
50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
It’s possible on a narrative level that Mark wants us to see this throwing off of his cloak as a symbol of Bartimaeus’ utter abandonment of anything in his life that would hinder him from getting to Jesus.
Again, contrast the Rich Young Ruler who was not willing to pry his own fingers off his wealth.
51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Buried in this simple question is a lot of honor and dignity towards Bartimaeus. Jesus is giving him the opportunity to speak, not as a social problem or a victim, but as a person.
Interestingly, it’s the same exact question we saw Jesus ask James and John last week, but Bartimaeus responds very differently.
They respond by asking for special status in Jesus’ kingdom.
He responds with a simple request for his normal sight to be restored:
And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”
He’s not asking for special treatment or special status; he knows he doesn’t deserve that. Just a simple plea for a basic bodily function to work again.
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
All of us in our natural state suffer from spiritual blindness and desperately need Jesus to restore our sight.
In fact, the way the Bible puts it, it’s as though we have a veil over our eyes, keeping us from seeing the glory of Christ.
But, in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 it says, …when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The key to true discipleship is remaining a Bartimaeus in our humility and desperation
The beautiful irony of this story in the wider context of Mark 10 is that it is not ‘the rich young ruler’ who proves to be the true follower but rather ‘the poor blind beggar’.
Now, the reality is, spiritually speaking, we are ALL Bartimaeus. We are all desperate and poor and blind. The question is, do we realize it and embrace it… or are we self-deceived into thinking that we are spiritually rich and in need of nothing?
Revelation 3:17 (ESV): 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
May we be the kind of people who cry out to Jesus in our blindness and receive the true spiritual sight that only He can give.
Like Bartimaeus, who called out to the Savior on His way to the cross, let’s call out to our Savior who has already gone to the cross for us. And let’s trust that what He’s accomplished by His life and death and resurrection is enough to not only cure our blindness but cleanse us from our depravity.